Lawmakers Urge FDIC To Deny Wal-Mart Bank

Law360, New York (March 12, 2007, 12:00 AM EDT) -- Congressional leaders are pushing regulators to reject Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s plan to open an industrial bank, contending that it will hurt small businesses and lead to the retail giant’s dominance in this sector.

On Thursday, over 30 members of Congress sent a letter to Martin Gruenberg, the acting chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., detailing their worries about Wal-Mart’s bank proposal.

Last July, Wal-Mart submitted its application to open an industrial bank in Utah to process debit, credit and electronic-check transactions as a way to...